Delivered by ENHANCE: Risk perception and risk cultures in Europe

Risk perception plays an important role when reacting to natural hazards and disasters. How we deal with risk is dependent on how well we understand it and how we perceive it. In cases where people have a poor perception of risk or no perception at all, their reaction might be less convenient or even harmful. Risk perception has therefore become an important topic to decision and policy makers concerned with risk management.

Accordingly, ENHANCE has developed a working paper that focuses on identifying generic risk perception criteria through the assessment of different European risk cultures. These criteria will help increase the possibility for other areas with similar risks to copy strategies and governance procedures that are likely to reduce their vulnerability to risks.

With special attention to the first results achieved by ENHANCE case studies, the team of experts analysed the cultures of risk management using three main theoretical pathways: the cultural theory of risk, the protection motivation theory and the framing theory.

The team of experts behind the study consists of: María Carmona, María Mañez and Pino Gonzàlez-Riancho Calzada from Helmontz-Zentrum Geesthacht in Germany; Swenja Surminsky from London School of Economics and Polotical Science; Joanne Bayer and Susanne Hanger from International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis; and David Haro and Joaquín Andreu from Universitat Politècnica de València.